Smelter Operations

The Kitimat smelter is a multi-faceted manufacturing facility, covering about 110 hectares within a larger industrial area. It has a rated production capacity of 275,000 tonnes of aluminum annually.

More than 900 steel pots or cells are housed in the smelter’s seven potrooms. Within each cell, an electrolytic reduction process is used to separate aluminum from the oxygen to which it is bonded in its natural form. This is done by flowing electricity through a highly conductive liquid containing dissolved alumina ore (an aluminum-oxygen compound).

The smelter currently uses cell technology referred to as Vertical Stud Söderberg. Although once the industry standard, use of this technology has largely been phased out elsewhere in favour of environmentally superior alternatives.

Aluminum is produced in molten form in the cells, and then transported to on-site casting centres. There, various alloys are added to produce desired end-use characteristics, and the aluminum is chilled and solidified in specific product forms.

The smelter site includes a variety of other facilities, including anode paste and coke calcining plants, which produce raw materials used in the electrolytic reduction process.

The adjacent wharf, however, is the point-of-entry for most raw materials consumed at the smelter – most notably, some 500,000 tonnes of alumina ore imported annually from Australia. It is also the point at which Alcan’s B.C. products begin their journeys to customers around the Pacific Rim.

More than 50 ocean-going vessels and barges typically call at the wharf each year, making it a significant Pacific port in its own right. Proximity to Asian markets provides Alcan’s B.C. operations with an important competitive advantage.